KITEMARK® BODYSHOP - SEWARD GROUP - SCOOPS ABP AWARD
South Coast based Seward Accident Repair centres, which hold the prestigious Kitemark certification at all eight sites recently scooped Independent Bodyshop Group Award at the Auto Body Professional’s Club (ABP Club) Night of Knights. Seward Accident Repair Group was formed in 1989 it has eight sites at: Bournemouth, two in New Milton, Fareham, Southampton, Worthing and two at Havant covering the whole of the south coast of England. To gain the highly regarded Kitemark, the vehicle body repair shops must prove that they conform to tough standards. These include strict requirements that focus on skills, repair methods, equipment and materials. All these elements are then assessed by independent BSI inspectors and must meet stringent benchmarks if the valuable Kitemark is to be awarded by BSI. The ABP Club Night of Knights had presentations from leading companies within the UK body repair market and with over 436 attendees at the Barcelo Hinckley Island Hotel in Leicestershire. It also showed year on year trend analysis. The Repairers’ Choice Awards followed where UK bodyshops vote for their favourite company in each of seven industry supplier categories. Jay Commander, group process manager for all the sites commented: “Winning the Independent Bodyshop Group award is fantastic. I enjoy the ABP conventions and awards and if ABP did not do it nobody else would. It is a good forum for discussion and information, last year the event focussed massively on vehicle repairs and the importance of the Kitemark.” ”We strongly believe that PAS 125 will be the recognised industry standard and those bodyshops that go through the process and achieve Kitemark certification will continue to differentiate themselves from those that choose not to. David Cresswell, Chairman of the ABP Club added: This was our fourth Annual Convention and Night of Knights awards evening and our biggest and most successful to date. Our delegates enjoyed a wide range of speakers during the day, especially BSI's Steve Wright, who was so popular we had to ask him to come back after lunch and continue. "Our ABP Club Knight Awards evening celebrates the best in our industry and Sewards were worthy winners of our "Independent Bodyshop Group" Knight award. They had a great year, increasing their turnover by over 13% in the last year to make them the UK's 5th largest bodyshop group. They are fully committed to the PAS125 and the Kitemark for Vehicle Body Repair, with their first site achieving certification in June 2008 and now all their eight sites are accredited." For details on Seward Accident Repair Centres visit www.sewardaccidentrepairs.co.uk or contact on 0844 846 0132. For media enquiries relating to this press release, please contact Tracey Treanor at Chicane on 07789 078710 or e-mail tracey@chicanemarketing.co.uk Image caption: Left to right: Mark Bull (ABP Club); Paul Marden (Sewards); Paul Siemonek (from award sponsors ACIS); Mark Gallagher (Cosworth F1 and guest speaker) NOTES TO EDITORS: About BSI Group BSI Group is a global independent business services organization which enables businesses, governments and other organizations to increase profits and market access, and to enhance reputation with its standards-based solutions and assurance services. From its origins as the world’s first National Standards Body, BSI Group draws upon over 100 years’ experience to partner with 66,000 organizations in 147 countries from its 50 offices. Today, through its independence, innovation and integrity, BSI continues to improve the lives of millions by raising standards worldwide. To learn more about BSI Group, please visit www.bsigroup.com Contact: Claire Lynam, Head of Communications & Alliances, BSI. Tel: 08450 765600, claire.lynam@bsigroup.com www.Kitemark.com ABP CLUB: ABP Club is now over six years old and has over 1450 members from all sides of the UK body repair industry. For more information on the APBP Club please visit wwwabpclub.com or contact 0116 239 0519.
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